AN: I'm pretty proud how this chapter went. I had this scene planned for months, so glad I finally got to write it. It's harder to write chapters with college classes going on. Most likely my schedule will be even more hectic as the weeks and months progress.

So just a little clear up what I'll be doing with this fanfic. There is no plans for a resort. It is too overused and I like sticking with original ideas if I can help it. I don't see an Emancipation in the future, though I love that idea when reading fanfics. No plans of an early graduation either.

Enjoy!

~NicoDiAngeloLover7

Touched by Death – Chapter 13

Harry could have laughed, it took to cursing the red-head for Ron and Hermione to avoid him. If he had known that, he may have tried to curse the red-head beforehand. Avoid a lot of headaches in the meantime. Harry couldn't have been happier at that moment. That didn't stop Harry from telling Marcus about the encounter between the two Gryffindors. The Slytherin was annoyed at first and then he started laughing. Marcus had never liked those two Gryffindors and to learn his Harry had cursed one of them was hilarious. Marcus would have to teach Harry how to show him that memory. He had a Pensieve at the Flint Manor, a place he hoped he would get away from this summer.

Harry didn't doubt that Marcus was probably proud that he cursed Ron. Marcus may not be cruel enough that he curses every person in his path. But Harry knew that he would curse those who deserved it. After all, Harry had seen proof that that last year. Harry didn't doubt that Marcus could be vicious on handing out detentions, if he ever did. If the Slytherin did assign detentions, most likely they were served with Snape. The Gryffindor knew that no other teacher would assign detentions in order to serve a lesson. Any other professor to him, would give the idea that the student could do it again without much repercussions. Though Harry doubted even Professor McGonagall could serve a detention to prevent a student from hitting a second offense. It seemed only Snape's detentions would serve the correct effect.

Harry and Marcus were currently roaming around the lake.

It was a month before end of term. And that meant even closer to summer vacation. And Marcus was annoyed he still had not found a way to escape the Flint Manor. He preferred not to touch the fortune that he stole from his parents into a separate account that his parent could never touch. The Slytherin doubted his family would notice the hundreds of thousands of galleons missing. He had already moved everything of value to him into the same vault, currently residing in Gringotts.

Harry was also aware of how close to summer holidays he was. And the Gryffindor was dreading it, it made it obvious that he hated his relatives. But Harry refused to budge on elaborating why to Marcus. It made the Slytherin more suspicious and even more protective of him. Harry was secretly loving the protective side of his boyfriend. He didn't show any public affection while with Marcus. They never knew who could be silently watching. But they were both on an old topic, Sirius Black.

"It's odd, Marcus. We already know that Sirius Black broke into the Gryffindor Tower. But we have never seen him yet," Harry spoke softly.

"He did break out of Azkaban, so he must know how to hide well," Marcus rolled his eyes.

This was not the first time Harry had spoken about this. He knew full and well that the Gryffindor wanted to meet this supposed Godfather of his. Especially if the man really was innocent and knew his parents. Though Harry did grumble occasionally that he knew Marcus wasn't telling him something.

Marcus didn't admit to Harry just yet that he knew a few things about Sirius Black. And the question Harry had about how he got disowned from the Black Tapestry. But Marcus knew that Sirius would need to be the one to tell Harry.

Marcus was so lost in his current thoughts he didn't realize Harry had dashed away from him. Now, the Slytherin normally would never be caught running unless it warranted it. But he figured when his young boyfriend was running towards the Whomping Willow, that was a pretty good reason why.

It took Marcus literally jumping Harry to stop the running Gryffindor.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Marcus hissed.

Harry looked beyond shocked, not expecting Marcus to tackle him. "We need to go to the Whomping Willow," Harry whispered.

"Why the hell do we need to do that!?"

"Because I just saw Ron being dragged by a black dog under the tree," Harry said as if it was obvious.

Marcus looked like he thought Harry just lost his mind.

Harry's body was shaking slightly as he stood up and brushed away the dirt on his robes. He grabbed Marcus' bigger hand dragged him closer to the Whomping Willow. He carefully stood several feet away as he studied the rampaging tree. That's when he noticed Hermione's cat, Crookshanks. The orange cat was darting past the tree until the cat pressed at a knob at the tree. It instantly stilled and that's when Harry took his chance. He kept the strong grip on Marcus as he run past the immobile tree and slid into the evident passage near the roots.

Marcus let Harry grab at his hand and basically guide him to the monstrous tree. The Slytherin didn't say a word as he slid into the tunnel that Harry went through moments before. He just stared around him, never had it crossed his mind that there would be a tunnel underneath the Whomping Willow.

"Must lead to the Shrieking Shack," Harry whispered to Marcus.

It felt like forever before Harry and Marcus made their way into the room where a black dog and an injured Ron was.

Despite Ron's injury, he seemed to hold his tongue when he caught glimpse of Harry with Marcus. It somehow escaped his notice that Harry was still gripping Marcus' hand.

"So, a dog really did drag Weasley?" Marcus observed.

"Shut your mouth, Flint!" Ron snapped.

"I'd watch yours, Weasley. Never know when my wand my slip…" Marcus threatened as he held his wand in Ron's direction.

Ron seemed to pale slightly before hissing in pain.

Marcus' eyes seemed to trail to the black, shaggy dog. "You're not a regular dog, are you?"

The black dog's eyes seemed to widen. As if before their eyes, the dog transformed into a man.

Marcus' eyebrows rose in interest. He had figured out how Sirius Black escaped Azkaban.

"Sirius Black!" Ron screamed.

"Shut up!" Harry yelled at Ron.

Sirius seemed to be in bad shape, clothes barely hanging on him. He was dangerously thin, and his cheeks seemed hallow. But it looked like his eyes regained their light. Though he looked suspicious of the boy beside Harry. Observing well that Harry was in a Gryffindor robe and his friend was in a Slytherin one.

"You're not afraid of me?" Sirius' voice was a little soft, but audible.

"No, I'm not. I know you didn't betray my parents. I'm not sure if you actually killed 13 muggles or not. But it seems likely that Peter was responsible for that," Harry didn't hesitate to answer.

Sirius looked happy at Harry's answer.

"Are you nuts, Potter?! He's a murderer!" Ron screamed at his former friend.

"Why don't you shove your nose where it actually belongs! Obviously, that's not here," Harry hissed out.

Harry was silently thankful Ron quieted back down, if not he may have thrown a stunner at the red-head.

"Harry, are you aware that Peter is a rat?" Sirius asked gently.

The young Gryffindor found he liked the voice of his godfather, he only wished that the man was healthier. Harry shook his head.

Sirius' eyes glanced over to Ron and Harry followed sight.

Harry's eyebrows went up when he noticed that Ron was clutching Scabbers, who was making a valiant fight to escape. Harry didn't even pause for thought, he sent a stunner at the rat and the animal immediately went still.

"What the bloody hell did you do to Scabbers!" Ron shouted at Harry.

Harry winced at the loud yell, "I sent a stunner at him. And he's not a rat! He's a bloody animagus. You should be happy to note that you been harboring a criminal in your bed and house," he mocked.

Harry didn't think Ron could go any paler, but the red-head managed it.

Not wanting to hear anymore complaints from the red-head, Harry sent another stunner at Ron and the boy was out like a light.

Sirius looked like he wanted to protest but stopped when he noticed the way his godson was glaring at him.

Harry stepped closer to Ron to take a good look at Ron's leg. He had to lower himself to his knees in order to look at the wound. It was really bloody, and he didn't hesitate to vanish the excess of blood with his wand. It didn't look like the red-head would need a blood replenisher. This wasn't something the boy needed to be awake for. A lot of the skin was torn apart and all Harry needed to do was magic the skin back together. There weren't any real internal injuries, which would make the healing a bit easier. Harry's gaze was focused as his wand hovered over Ron's leg. The words were barely audible, and Harry watched as the skin slowly stitched itself back together.

The young Potter slowly raised back up and he brushed his hair out of his eyes.

Sirius looked fascinated at the work that his godson did. With pride in his voice, "my Godson is aspiring to be a Healer."

Harry looked Sirius in surprise, "you're not disappointed?"

Sirius' eyes weren't the only ones that narrowed.

"I could never be disappointed in you, Harry. I won't hesitate to say it is apparently you are just as brilliant as Lily and James. Your parents would be proud of you, I know I am."

Harry's eyes watered, but he refused to let a tear drop.

Sirius' focused went back to Marcus. "Don't think I forgot about you. I may not know you, but why the hell is a Slytherin hanging around my Godson." The tone was sharp, almost accusing.

Marcus glared at Sirius, neither of them seemed to back down from the apparent challenge.

Harry sighed, he should have known this would happen. He was told that Sirius was a Gryffindor. "Marcus is here to protect me if needed and the fact he's my boyfriend."

Marcus smirked as Sirius' jaw dropped.

The older Gryffindor was beyond shocked.

Harry screamed when Sirius unexpectedly fainted.

The young Potter looked embarrassed when he realized what he did. Trying to pass it off, "Did he just faint?"

"Seeing as he's unconscious, since I rather doubt, he decided to go for a nap," Marcus drawled. "You scream like a girl."

Harry sent a minor stinging hex at the Slytherin, "Shut it. I didn't expect the man to just faint because I told him I was dating a Slytherin."

"He is a Gryffindor," Marcus remarked.

"You can't use that excuse, you're dating a Gryffindor after all," Harry reminded.

"More like a Hufflepuff," Marcus muttered.

"I still know quite a few curses, don't make me use them," Harry threatened.

Marcus didn't doubt that Harry would carry out this threat. "Spells that I taught you…"

Harry huffed, "maybe… You might want to rennervate him."

Marcus looked disgruntled, as if he preferred to have the man unconscious. He didn't hesitate to cast the spell though.

Sirius was disorientated at first but had to do a double take as seeing Harry and Marcus. It only took a moment for Sirius to remember the past few events that had occurred. It was hard for the man to wrap his mind around that his godson was with…some Slytherin. But this was his Godson, Harry. He already hated himself for deciding to go after Pettigrew and land in Azkaban. He missed the time he could have spent with Harry. And he couldn't really tell, but he was going to reserve judgement if this Slytherin could be trusted with Harry. Sirius didn't like the fact that Harry was dating a Slytherin.

"Sirius…" Harry started. "So, I know that Peter actually betrayed my parents. Even if Marcus didn't tell me, today proves that. But did you really kill those muggles?"

Sirius studied his godson for a moment. "No," he rasped. "The traitor cast a blasting curse before blaming me for Lily and James' deaths. That was before he cut his finger off and transformed into a rat." Sirius did look at Marcus in a new light. He didn't even know his last name, but if a Slytherin was the one to tell his Godson the truth, then this was someone he probably could trust.

Harry bit his lip, he had assumed as much. Marcus had even assumed that Sirius would never have killed a muggle. "So you're not a Death Eater?"

Harry could have sworn Black's eyes went a little dark at that. Marcus even moved slightly closer to Harry.

"Never…" Sirius rasped. "especially not after James and Lily. My Black family has always been known to be dark. But I refuse follow in that path, all it leads to is pain and death."

"Marcus told me," Harry whispered. "I believe you, though. For so long I didn't think I had any family yet. Nobody had told me that I had a godfather imprisoned, except Marcus. He never believed that you were guilty and that meant I didn't either."

Sirius visibly brightened at that. He knew that he probably looked horrible, but it was to be expected after 13 years of exposure to Dementors. But maybe he might be able to get his former self back.

"I saw the Black Tapestry. Why were you disowned. I don't believe it was just from being sorted into Gryffindor."

Sirius snorted, "I am not surprised that your Slytherin boyfriend knows most of this."

Harry's eyes hardened, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Sirius looked immediately apologetic. "That wasn't an insult, Harry. I know your boyfriend is probably a Pureblood. Some of this information is probably common knowledge to them. Though I am not certain how your friend knew I was innocent. I am not complaining."

Harry visible calmed down. He had already heard enough from the Gryffindors about his friendship with Marcus. The last thing Harry wanted was to hear the same prejudice with someone he could consider family.

"No, I wasn't disowned for being a Gryffindor. My family decided I was to take the Dark Mark. Which is the mark of Voldemort. I refused, I ran away to your dad's place. I was always welcome at the Potters. That was the final straw for my dear mother and disowned me from the Black Family Tree," Sirius explained.

Harry blinked a few times, but it did more sense than being disowned for being a Gryffindor.

"Sirius," Marcus tried to get Sirius' attention.

Sirius looked from Harry to the Slytherin.

"You are still Lord Black, correct?"

Sirius narrowed his eyes, wondering what the Slytherin was getting at. "My family apparently added me back into the family after I was imprisoned."

Marcus nodded.

Harry looked at Marcus, curious what his boyfriend was getting at.

"Would you be opposed to offer me sanctuary at one of your houses?" Marcus hesitantly asked.

Harry and Sirius' eyebrow's rose. Neither of them had expected this from him. And Harry technically knew Marcus a lot better than Sirius ever would.

"What is your last name?" Sirius asked, almost ignoring the question.

"Flint." The answer only required one word.

"You remind me a bit of myself. I do not blame you from wanting to get away from your mother and father. I have a place in mind," Sirius smiled.

Harry openly gaped at his godfather. He wasn't sure if he could believe his ears. Though it was more of Sirius agreeing to let his boyfriend live at one of his homes. Harry couldn't say he was surprised by Marcus' request. The Slytherin didn't give him too much information about his family, but it was evident they were beyond horrible. Maybe Marcus' parents were worse than Dursleys, though on a wizarding level. If Harry was to be surprised by Marcus, it would be because he asked someone he really didn't know. But he knew that Marcus could tell that he already trusted his godfather, so that meant that Marcus would try to extend the same courtesy. Though Harry was silently thankful that Marcus would be out of the grasp of his family. Even if they tried something, he would be under the protection of his godfather. Harry doubted that Marcus liked the idea of having to ask for help in the first place.

Marcus wasn't as bad as Harry, he didn't openly gap at Sirius. But he was still a bit shocked, fully expecting the man to reject his request. Marcus knew he probably underestimated the man, though he did see what Sirius meant though. Marcus probably did remind Sirius a little of himself. The man after all did run away to the Potter's in his youth. And like Sirius, it was to escape his dark family, but Marcus would never be considered a Gryffindor.

Marcus nodded at Sirius in thanks. That's when Marcus turned his attention to the unconscious red-head. "Don't you think we need to get him to Madam Pomfrey?"

Sirius didn't say a word, watching as his godson and his boyfriend interacted.

Harry shrugged, "he'll be fine. I would drop him off at the Hospital Wing though. Poppy will definitely double check to be sure, though."

Marcus snorted, "you don't care either way, do you?"

Harry grinned, "after this year. Not really…"

"You two seem quite a pair," Sirius grinned at them.

Harry's cheeks heated up slightly. "Thanks, Sirius. We still need to get you out of here and turn Pettigrew in. You can be free… An innocent man."

Some the haunted look in Sirius' eyes faded slightly. Like it would never occur to him if Pettigrew was caught.

"How are you even getting Sirius out of here? I doubt it would be a good idea for him to go around as his animagus," Marcus asked Harry as they went through passage.

Sirius looked amused as his godson cursed under his breath.

Marcus rolled his eyes before looking back at Sirius. "Do you know how to make a Portkey?"

Sirius grinned, "an illegal portkey, huh? I can do it."

All four of them had made it outside, though Marcus had Ron levitating in his unconscious state, with Pettigrew clutched in his grasp.

Harry looked confused by what they meant by portkey. He figured he could ask Marcus about it later or be shown what one was.

Marcus didn't hesitate to give Sirius Ron's wand temporarily to make the portkey. Thankfully the Weasel got a new wand after he broke his in his second year.

Sirius wound up grabbing some old, torn up boot. It wasn't perfect, but it an object to use. His voice was low when he spoke the spell, "portus."

The boot glowed for a moment, the charm had taken hold.

"I'll owl you a portkey for the summer," Sirius looked at Marcus. He didn't hesitate to pull Harry into a tight hug. "I hope to see you soon, Harry."

Harry smiled, "me too, Sirius."

That was when Sirius grabbed the old boot and he was gone.

Harry gaped at the spot where Sirius disappeared. "Did he just apparate?"

Marcus snorted, "I believe he just used a portkey, Harry."

The Gryffindor huffed, "shut it. Never knew what a Portkey was until today."

"Now you know. Let's get back to the castle and get Weasley to the Hospital Wing. You still have exams to worry about."

"Like you don't have exams as well. You have N.E.W.T.s this year after all," Harry grumbled.

"And shouldn't you be preparing for O.W.L.s in two years?" Marcus pointed out.

Harry ignored Marcus as he walked towards the castle, "Shouldn't you put Pettigrew in a cage, so he doesn't escape?"

Harry didn't notice Marcus nod as the Slytherin conjured up a small cage, it wasn't too glamorous, but it would do the job. Not wanting to touch the rat, he levitated him into the cage. He didn't hesitate to add animagus wards. "That should solve that, I would suggest getting hold of Madam Bones. She can easily take care of this case the right way."

Marcus knew that Harry would take his words at value and he probably appreciated him even more. Marcus wasn't sure why Harry would, but he would be grateful to have the raven with him.

When Harry brought Ron to Madam Pomfrey, he wasn't surprised when she asked what happened. Harry didn't say much detail except that he saw the boy get attacked by a stray dog.

Poppy seemed to take Harry's word as she examined the boy. "You did very well," Pomfrey praised. "The only thing he could really need is pain relief potion if needed."

Harry grinned, it was nice to know even with everything going on that his progress of being a Healer was going well. The Gryffindor just hoped that whatever Marcus wanted to do, it was going the way he wanted as well. Marcus never said what he wanted to do though, and Harry had never asked.

The Gryffindor was insanely curious what the house that Sirius and Marcus would probably living in would look like. Part of that curiosity was if the house would be one of the Black family homes. Then wouldn't that make it one of Harry's homes, since his grandmother was a Black?

It would be a few more weeks and after exams that Harry got his scores. Silently glad he didn't have wait into the summer like fifth years had to for their O.W.L.s.

Harry was very well aware of the grade system by now and so skipped the part where it explained what every grade meant.

Defense Against the Dark Arts – O
Transfiguration – EE
Potions – EE
Charms – EE
Herbology – EE
History of Magic – A
Astronomy – A
Healing – O
Care of Magical Creatures - EE

Harry gazed over his scores and smiled. He had done a lot better than he thought. He was positive that he would have failed Potions, but that wasn't an option for him if he wanted to be a Healer. If he kept these grades up, he definitely would be able to pass his O.W.L.s in two years and move into N.E.W.T.s classes. Harry definitely wanted to go ask Marcus what he made on his exams.

AN: Buckbeak is killed in this fanfic and Harry and Hermione never go back in time to save him.